Recess Monkey notes that the next tranche of approved candidates will get named at the end of the month, which he can't resist calling 'The B list' . What chance for our friends in Blogistan like Iain and James Cleverly, should they be pursuing seats?

This entry was posted
on Saturday, July 08, 2006 at 11:33 am.
You can skip to the end and leave a response.

Yes, I read that a bit earlier - she sounds like a class act. It is encouraging that there are so many impressive people who want to stand.

I was mulling earlier as to whether there could be a mechanism whereby when people apply their genders would not be visible, so to speak, and then whether that would have an impact on the chances of people not from central casting getting selected.

I would hope that all other considerations being equal, a real local connection should be a deciding factor.

It is intriguing to compare the UK with the US, where the chances of an outsider / 'carpetbagger' winning a nomination for a congressional district are vanishingly small. I think that that is a little over narrow, as I don't suppose talent is spread equally, geographically speaking.

Croydonian - the regional differences in the vastness of the United States are much greater than in small, cosy England.

In addition, there is absolutely no way people would vote for an out-of-stater who doesn't know the law of their state. Don't forget, states make their own laws. New Hampshire allows guns and concealed carry. Neighbouring Massachusetts has strict gun control. The concerns of Texans are totally different to the concerns of Louisiana - right across the state line.

Houstonians would not accept a Dallasite from 250 miles away, from completely different terrain and climate and industry. Also, in the US, people standing for Congress or the governorship, have come up through their local systems - you have opportunities to vote on so many things in the US - your local schoolboard, your district court judges, your police chief, your sheriff ... so the local networks are very complex and strong.

All very true, although one might note that English people end up getting seats in Scotland.

For what it is worth, I would like to see the most almighty bonfire of quangos etc and their replacement by elected bodies rather than being stuffed with what someone has decided constitutes 'the great and the good'. (The latter phrase is a late breaking entry for the political cliches / weasel words etc thread).